


Don't Ask Just Tell

by Stormchild



Category: Young Justice
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-12-30
Updated: 2013-12-30
Packaged: 2018-01-06 19:22:19
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,302
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1110586
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Stormchild/pseuds/Stormchild
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>For shadesninde’s prompt:<br/>The team (like fandom) can’t agree about Kaldur’s sexuality. Despite their sly attempts to get him to disclose his deal, he’s not talking, so they all put ten bucks in a jar and decide to investigate the interesting way.</p><p>There’s a little bit of nakedness, but mostly sfw.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Don't Ask Just Tell

**Author's Note:**

> For shadesninde on tumblr

Kaldur, the Team decides, is a little weird. They’re all weird, of course. In their own ways. But the thing that’s weird about Kaldur is that he can talk without actually saying anything. He can talk about himself without actually saying anything. Even Robin, who’s been trained to keep his identity a secret, and Roy, who’s about as easy to get something out of as a bank vault, give away some details. They know Robin is great on a trapeeze and Roy can shoot on horseback. They know M’gann has a bad sweet tooth. Wally hates scary movies. Conner likes stuffed animals. Zatanna has a wild streak -which Robin loves. Artemis likes chick flicks.

And Kaldur… Kaldur doesn’t eat seafood. Other than that, he’ll eat anything without complaint. They can’t tell what kind of movies he likes. And most frustrating, they don’t know what kind of people Kaldur likes. Romantically, sexually. 

Robin and Roy like girls with a wild streak. M’gann and Conner like each other. Wally likes, well, everything. Artemis is a little harder to peg, but she likes a sense of humor. Zatanna is the wild streak, and she likes to see that mirrored. 

"Are Atlanteans even into anything?"

"Aquaman’s married, isn’t he?"

"Yeah, his wife’s hot."

"Wally!"

"What?"

"Maybe he just likes Atlanteans."

"You think he’s into fish?"

"Atlanteans aren’t fish, dumbass."

"Well you’re such an expert, what do you think?"

"I didn’t say I’m an expert."

"I think he’s gay. He dresses too well to be straight."

"What? That doesn’t mean anything. He’s definitely straight."

"You’re just saying that because you have a thing for him."

"I do not! Who says they even differentiate in Atlantis? You don’t know."

"Neither do you."

"I don’t think he’s into anyone. I’ve never even seen him look twice at someone."

"Does it… matter?"

Conner’s confusion is sincere. 

"Not really," Artemis says. "We’re just curious."

"I’m sure there’s a reason he hasn’t mentioned it," M’gann says, though it’s clear the conversation’s piqued her interest.

"Well I say we find out."

Robin has that grin that has Wally’s eyes widening in excitement and Roy shrinking back into the couch. 

"How do we do that?" Zatanna grins.

Robin runs off and comes back with an empty jar. He sets it down in the circle his friends are in. There’s mixed looks of confusion. 

"How’s a jar supposed to help?" Artemis snorts.

"We all put ten bucks in this jar. First person to figure out what he’s into, oooooor who can seduce him, gets the money."

He wiggles his eyebrows and stuffs a bill into the jar. For a few seconds, no-one does anything. Then, Artemis sighs and does the same. Zatanna’s next, giggling. 

"I am so in," Wally says.

He pulls his wallet out and grabs a ten. Conner nudges him, and he pulls another. When Conner and M’gann exchange a look, he grabs a third.

"Come on, this is so not worth it," he grumbles. 

"Roy, you in?"

"No way. If Kal’s not saying, he’s not saying for a reason. I’m not getting involved in this shit. It’s like high school all over again. How’d I get stuck with you kids, stupid Ollie and the goddamn League making me babysit you squirts."

Zatanna rolls her eyes and Artemis flips him off, while Wally and Dick stick their tongues out. Roy walks towards the kitchen, but not before sticking a ten in the jar, mumbling about stupid Ollie and goddamn League and something in Navajo and fuck you I’m an adult. The latter two are used to this from Roy, but the rest of the Team isn’t sure how to react.

"You love us, Harper!"

"Can it, West."

The jar’s fairly full and honestly, no-one can wait to get started.

—

Artemis tries first. Walking out of the Cave’s communal showers, she realizes it’s a little chilly with only a towel wrapped around her. It’s barely long enough to cover her ass. Oh well. She’s already made it this far. No sense turning back now.

Artemis Crock is the epitome of subtle. Obviously.

She figures even if Kaldur isn’t attracted to her, necessarily, he’ll at least look. Is it egotistical for her to think she’s got a great body? She doesn’t think so.

Kaldur is on the couch with Zatanna. They’re chatting. While Artemis doesn’t like to compete with her fellow female teammate, this is a competition. She straightens herself out - the way she’s seen Jade do it - and strides across the room. Water from her hair rolls down her shoulders, slipping into the cleavage. Some make their way down her legs.

She feels eyes on her but when she looks back, it’s Zatanna’s eyes on her legs but Kaldur hasn’t spared her a backwards glance.

Huffing, she storms off to the room that’s occasionally hers. Her thoughts of a plan B are interrupted by a high whistle.

"Wally!"

Zatanna laughs, and Kaldur shakes his head. There’s a slight smile at the corner of his lips, though, and Zatanna isn’t sure if it’s about Wally’s antics or Artemis’s legs or the fact that she’s going to hit him in the face with her bow later.

"She’s been working out," Zatanna says. "It shows."

"Yes, she has improved greatly since she started with this team. I believe that since Roy joined, they are both pushing themself harder."

Zatanna sees an opening.

"Can I ask you a personal question?" She doesn’t wait for an answer. "Which one do you think is a better archer?"

There’s a moment of hesitation.

"Roy is more experienced. He has been doing archery since he was a child. Their styles are vastly different. It is not a simple comparison."

And that’s how he can keep so much from them, Zatanna realizes. Answers that aren’t answers. There’s no real explanation in his words, no real meaning. But it’s pretty obvious he thinks Roy’s better. She can’t quite put her finger on what it is. It would be so much easier to just force an answer, but where’s the fun in that.

"I’ve got another question. Which one… do you think… is more…"

The last word hangs in the air. A dark eyebrow goes up.

"Attractive?"

Kaldur laughs. He actually laughs. It’s almost as rare as getting a personal detail from him.

"I apologize. I- may I ask what prompted this question?"

"Well they’re both attractive."

"I suppose they are."

"Objectively, though. Which one do you think is more? Personally, I think Roy has the better ass."

Kaldur is about to answer, but an alarm goes off and he has to run off and make sure the kitchen isn’t on fire again. Zatanna huffs and crosses her arms over her chest. So close.

—

Conner is only slightly less subtle than Artemis. He walks right into Kaldur’s room.

Naked.

Completely and utterly naked.

Kaldur drops his book. Staring. Conner takes it as a good sign.

"Let’s have sex."

"Wh- I be-" Kaldur clears his throat. "I’m sorry?"

"I want to have sex with you. I’ve seen videos. I want it. I want you."

It takes Kaldur a few moments to compose himself. It’s embarassing. Conner’s erection is- is right there. There’s actually a condom in his hand. How the hell is Kaldur supposed to deal with this?

"I’m afraid I’m going to have to- decline."

"Why? Are you only sexually attracted to girls?"

It’s a strange way to ask why not, Kaldur thinks. But he doesn’t comment on it.

"This is not appropriate, Conner. I am your team leader, and you are with M’gann."

"But if I wasn’t, would you have sex with me?"

Conner thinks he can smell Kadur getting worked up. But the Atlantean’s eyes don’t drift from his. Not even a peek.

"I-"

But Kaldur’s cell phone vibrates. Again. And again. Obviously someone needs him.

"I apologize, please excuse me."

He checks his phone. There’s a series of messages from Red Arrow, each more frantic than the last.

"I have to go, my friend. I’m afraid this is an emergency. We can resume this conversation later."

They don’t. Conner doesn’t take it personally.

—

M’gann isn’t nearly as bold as her boyfriend or best friend. She asks Kaldur about Atlantis. About relationships. 

She discovers that Atlanteans find sexuality to be fluid. That Kaldur has always been a little confused by the surface world’s tendency to be disgusted by anything that isn’t heterosexual or that doesn’t fit into the small, norrowly defined boxes that mean little.

"I have always believed that there are many ways to feel love for someone. Gender is hardly a factor."

Finally, M’gann thinks, she’s getting somewhere.

"Do you think you could ever be with someone - physically - who was also a man?"

Kaldur has to think for a moment. He traces the tattoo on his hand. 

"I cannot say for certain. Why do you ask?"

"Just curious. Have you… been with a woman before?"

"I have not been physically intimate with anyone."

"Do you want to be?"

"With the right person, perhaps."

Kaldur seems to be staring at something far away. Something that M’gann can’t see. She wonders, for the first time, if maybe there’s only one person Kaldur wants. Only one person Kaldur can be attracted to. Maybe, like he says, male or female, has nothing to do with it. But it hardly seems like an answer she can take back to the team.

"So who’s the right person?" She asks, a little tentatively and a little quietly.

"Oh, I don’t know," he says, more dreamy than she’s ever heard him. "There is this old story that when people were created, they were created as two people merged as one. Two heads, four arms… two hearts."

"I know this story! Zeus was afraid of their power and split them up. So now humans - people - spend their lives trying to find their second half. To be whole again. It’s so romantic."

"It is."

And M’gann hasn’t discovered a thing about his sexuality, but now she at least knows he has a romantic side.

—

By the time Robin and Wally get to him, Kaldur gets the idea that something is going on.

"Hey Kal, when’s the last time you’ve been on a date?"

"Yeah. You’re a good looking guy. I’m surprised you don’t have swarms of girls after you."

"Or guys."

"Or guys. I bet you’d have your pick of either."

"Yeah, with those cheekbones and your mouth."

"Dude."

"What?"

"Too much."

"Sorry."

Kaldur laughs. Oh, he knows what’s going on. He isn’t an idiot. Roy only confirmed the night before, but he had known for a few days now. 

"What’s funny?"

"I don’t know. Maybe how lame you are."

"Hey, take that back!"

"No way, Dork Wonder."

"Shut up, Kid Mouth."

They bicker the rest of the night, and Kaldur tunes them out. This isn’t what he’d been expecting when Robin had asked him to join him and Wally on partol in Gotham. Roy, he thinks, is going to get a kick out of this. He can already hear the archer’s colorful laughter over their antics.

"You almost pushed me off the roof!"

"Well I didn’t."

"I said almost."

"Hey, shut up. Look."

They swing into action. It’s the only action they get that night. Kaldur prepares to head back home, graciously declining the offers to hang out at the Batcave for a bit. Not that he thinks Batman would approve the offer. But he can’t help but give them a bite.

"As a matter of fact, I have a date tomorrow night."

Their jaws drop, but he slips into the ratty phone booth and zetas away before they can probe.

—

"I’m telling you, he said tonight," Robin whispers.

"I wonder who she is," Conner says.

"Or he," Artemis tacks on

Kaldur looks nice. Really nice. He’s waiting, and so is the team, cramped on a rooftop. He smiles, waves someone over. They all hold their breaths in anticipation. There’s a mixture of sighs and groans when a familiar redhead walks into view. 

"Are you kidding me? Of course it’s not a date date," Artemis says.

"Don’t be so sure…" Robin trails, bringing the binoculars to his eyes.

Roy wraps an arm around Kaldur’s shoulders. Nothing new, he does the same with Robin and Dick. But Kaldur turns his head towards Roy and they share a quick kiss. Someone squeals. Wally thinks it’s Zatanna, but Conner thinks it might be M’gann.

"Are you kidding?"

"Go Roy."

"He knew all this time, that sneak."

"I knew it!"

"You did not."

"Shut up, Rob, I so did."

From down below, the couple doesn’t hear the above conversation. They’re more interested in their own.

"Think they figured it out?" Roy asks.

"I doubt it. They are clever, but not that clever."

"It’ll be nice not to have to hide it. Come on. That club won’t stay open forever. And I have a fresh box of ice cream in the freezer."

"Or, we could skip the club."

Roy thinks about it and wrinkles his nose despite the grin on his lips.

"Nah. I like watching you get hot when I dance with other guys."

Kaldur gives him a playful nudge. Roy laughs. His phone rings - Benjamin Kowalewicz screams at them - and he answers.

"Hey, KF. Enjoying the view?"

"Oh screw you. How could you not tell us that you guys are hooking up?"

"Yeah, you asshole!" He hears Artemis shout.

Kaldur is smiling. This is too amusing to him. Roy’s grin makes him laugh. It’s obvious the archer liked this game.

"Hey, so I guess this means I win. Seeing as I’ve been secuding our fearless leader for a while now."

He can hear Wally and Artemis yelling at him through the earpiece as he hangs up.

"I think they’re buying our drinks tonight."

**Author's Note:**

> You can find me at mechanicalpoet.tumblr.com.


End file.
